Activating CD94:NKG2C and inhibitory CD94:NKG2A receptors are expressed by distinct subsets of committed CD8+ TCR αβ lymphocytes

✍ Scribed by Lionel Arlettaz; Jean Villard; Casimir de Rham; Sylvie Degermann; Bernard Chapuis; Bertrand Huard; Eddy Roosnek

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 265 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0014-2980
• DOI: 10.1002/eji.200425210

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A subset of CD8^+^ T cells express the natural killer cell receptors CD94:NKG2A or CD94:NKG2C. We found that although many CD8^+^ T cells transcribe CD94 and NKG2C, expression of a functional CD94:NKG2C receptor is restricted to highly differentiated effector cells. CD94:NKG2A is expressed by a different subset consisting of CCR7^+^ memory cells and CCR7^–^ effector cells. Since NKG2A can only be induced on naive CD8^+^ T cells while CD94^–^ memory cells are refractory, it is likely that commitment to the CD94:NKG2A^+^ subset occurs during the first encounter with antigen. CCR7^+^CD94:NKG2A^+^ T cells recirculate through lymph nodes where upon activation, they produce large quantities of IFN‐γ. These cells occur as a separate CD94:NKG2A^+^ T cell lineage with a distinct TCR repertoire that differs from that of the other CD8^+^CD94^–^ T cells activated in situ.